An air conditioner for a vehicle includes a blower for absorbing air from an exterior and discharging the air to an interior of the vehicle. A heater and an evaporator are provided on a flow path of air flowing by the blower to cool or heat the air. Ducts are connected such that heated air or cooled air can be discharged to an upper side or a lower side of the interior of the vehicle.
However, such a conventional air conditioner requires a separate heating system in addition to a system for cooling, thus increasing cost for implementing respective systems and a great amount of energy for operating the respective systems, and deteriorating fuel efficiency of the vehicle.
The information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.